ion Act (H.R. 2844) by a vote of 306 to 97. H.R. 2844 requires states to hold special elections -- not appointments -- in the event 100 or more U.S. House members are killed. H.R. 2844 is the practical and proper alternative to the Continuity of Government's (COG) scheme to have House members appointed.

Even though we recently scored a major victory in keeping the U.S. House an elected body, not an appointed one, the Establishment juggernaut known as COG is not quitting. COG has launched a nationwide campaign asking citizens to help write "The National Will." The May 2, 2004 edition of Parade magazine carried, not an article, but a propaganda piece entitled "If A Terrorist Attack Succeeded...How Safe Is Congress?" (Parade is distributed to over 340 Sunday newspapers with a circulation of 35,700,000 and a readership of 70,907,000.)

The Parade propaganda presented only COG's proposal of amending the Constitution to have appointed House members. There was no mention of the fundamental question of whether House members should be elected or appointed. Readers were encouraged to help write the "National Will" by completing a poll at COG's Web site. That poll offers three choices -- all of which involve the appointment of House members.

The May 2nd Parade piece stated, "Despite today's dangers, Congress has yet to act." But that statement is false, because by April 22nd, the House had already considered the "dangers" and acted by passing H.R. 2844 to require special elections, not appointments. But the forces behind COG won't give up. They've been trying to do away with an elected House for decades. The first attempt to stampede Congress into approving the appointment of House members under the guise of addressing a catastrophic emergency goes back to before the Cold War. The COG scheme launched on June 4, 2003 is only the latest attack on the People's House. It should have ended on April 22, 2004, when we won our victory and the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed the Continuity in Representation Act (H.R. 2844). H.R. 2844 should have ended the debate because it requires speedy elections (not appointments).

But during the debate on H.R. 2844, the leadership of the House agreed to let the COG forces have a vote on their constitutional amendment (H.J. Res. 83) by the full House.

To that end, the House Committee on the Judiciary issued an unfavorable recommendation, but let the COG proposal out of committee so it can now be voted on by the full House. In doing so, committee chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) stated, "Let's be clear. Any constitutional amendment denying the right of elected representation would accomplish what no terrorist could, namely striking a fatal blow to what has otherwise always been 'The People's House." The U.S. House will vote on H.J. Res. 83 soon. We know that the COG forces will exert their influence (Parade magazine) and spend millions of dollars trying to convince the American people that U.S. House members should be appointed -- not elected. Such campaigns can affect the outcome as we know so well.

*ACTION TO TAKE*

1. Call Congress and tell them you oppose H.J. Res.83. Tell them Congress must be elected-- never appointed. Call House of Representatives switchboard at (202-225-3121) and ask for your representative by name.

2. Click here http://www.referralblast.com/rblast.asp?sid=5906 to send this APC Action Alert to up to TEN of your friends!

Don't let the forces behind COG win! What can you do to help defeat COG? Share this information with as many people as you can.

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